Click image to download 3-page PDF of May’s rounds played report
Rounds of golf in May 2022 were down about 7% compared to a year ago, the third straight month of year-over-year declines in national play.
May rounds were down in seven of the eight geographic regions tracked by Golf Datatech, which incorporates facility-level rounds data collected by NGF in creating the monthly reports.
While play has now been “down” in four of five months in 2022, it’s important to keep in mind that it is in comparison to last year, when there were more total rounds played at U.S. courses than at any time in history. In 2021, May rounds saw a jump of 18% over 2020, which in turn was +6% versus 2019.
Thus, when compared to a regular, pre-pandemic year, play for May 2022 was actually up.
The biggest regional decline for May was in the Pacific Region, where play was down almost 13% compared to the same period last year while precipitation was up 250%. The most significant dips were in the Pacific Northwest, with rounds in markets like Portland and Seattle down more than 32%.
The Mid-Atlantic Region (New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania) and the South Atlantic, which includes golf-rich states like Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, were both down about 10% in May play.
Entering June, national rounds were down about 9% compared to last year. However, this trajectory too would be ahead of recent pre-pandemic years.
